Focus on Arts and Ecology

18-24 March 2019

New official data confirmed what experts have been saying for months: China’s hard won gains in its “war on pollution” are being reversed. A slowing economy has put pressure on policymakers to soften pollution-fighting measures on businesses. In new air quality data published by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, March seems like a good month, with most Chinese cities enjoying better air quality than in March 2018. However, if the first three months of 2019 are taken together, air pollution deteriorated in North China compared to last year. For Beijing and the 27 North China cities surrounding it, PM2.5 levels were 8.4% higher in Q1 2019 than in Q1 2018. This is at odds with the State Council plan to cut PM2.5, a key contributor to North China’s notorious smog, by 3% in October 2018 to March 2019 compared to the previous winter. Earlier analysis had already shown air quality to be 10% worse in October and November 2018 than in the same period last year.